Have you had a chance to see this RIAA training video (torrent at thepiratebay, I’ll try to link to an online version when I can find one)? The history of it is apparently that it was sent to prosecutors in order to teach them how to bust more people for music piracy. It goes as [...]
Does it seem like a ridiculous waste of time to anyone else for Congress to investigate Major League Baseball over steroid abuse? I can understand that there are perfectly valid legal reasons that the House of Representatives is allowed to investigate baseball, but what I can’t figure out is why it is an effective use [...]
I just got done reading the somewhat unfortunately titled “Reefer Madness: Sex, Drugs, and Cheap Labor in the American Black Market” by Eric Schlosser, which showed up in my stocking this year. If you’re unfamiliar with the author, he is better known for writing the book “Fast Food Nation.” This particular title is a few [...]
So, I was reading up on Ron Paul the other day. I dunno if I can get behind him, but he certainly is an interesting Presidential candidate. As a Congressman and whatnot he’s voted strongly to his beliefs, and seems to be more or less a decent guy. I don’t like his policies on isolationism [...]
The ability to think critically is one of the most valuable skills available to a person. By forming a judgment based upon a thoughtful analysis of available information, better decisions can be made, and short and long term issues can be avoided, mitigated, or prepared for. Thinking critically requires an educated perspective in order to [...]
Subsidization is, effectively, when you pay for something, and part of the cost of what you’re getting actually gets put towards a different use altogether. Generally, subsidization costs are used to expense something that wouldn’t be possible otherwise. For example, gas tax subsidization is used to help build and maintain roadways, which are VERY expensive. [...]
It’s a tumultuous time for music lovers nowadays. Personally, this year was for me the costliest of my life, music-wise (probably commiserate with my increased ability to bring home the bacon). I travelled to New York City twice for Live Earth and Farm Aid, I saw several $100+ concerts, and generally have gone to excess [...]
shirt.woot.com is an interesting business. They are the t-shirt sales wing of woot.com, a business whose entire goal is to sell exactly one item a day. Not entirely unexpectedly, shirt.woot.com sells a single shirt a day, and once they run out of a predetermined amount, they’re sold out (well, not exactly, but they definitely don’t [...]
Backwards compatibility – it’s been a hot button subject for console manufacturers as of late. Sony and Microsoft both have had grief about their policies on this subject with this generation of consoles. The most recent update is that Sony is coming very close to officially no longer supporting backwards compatibility of PS1/2 games on [...]
So, did you see that the new Zunes are out? There are two notable features of the new Zune. First, the Zune now has a DRM-free music store, which is definitely a step in the right direction, and one that conusmers will applaud (and hopefully use, to kickstart a good trend). Second, MS made the [...]
